Jayden Quaintance injury update: Kentucky center details rehab process, return timeline

In February, Jayden Quaintance tore his ACL. Just two months later, the former five-star prospect committed to Kentucky via the NCAA Transfer Portal. On Tuesday, Quaintance provided an update on his injury and recovery process.

“I’ve been feeling great. I’ve been progressing pretty well. I’ve been trusting the trainers and the coaches (who are) trying to get me right,” Quaintance said. “Mentally, I’ve just been focusing on the next step and also kind of focusing on the moment. I’m feeling really good.

“Dwelling on things doesn’t really help you get better. I was always focused on the next step and trying to build myself and see what I could do to get better faster. So I was never really too down.”

Quaintance decided that next step was suiting up at Kentucky. Quaintance initially committed to Kentucky when he was in high school. However, after head coach John Calipari left the program to take over at Arkansas, Quaintance decommitted and eventually landed at Arizona State.

Quaintance had a standout debut campaign for the Sun Devils. He started in all 24 of his appearances, averaging 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 52.5% from the field. He shot 6-32 (18.8%) from 3-point range last season.

Quaintance was even more imposing on defense than he was on offense. He averaged 2.6 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. For his efforts, he was named an All-Big 12 Defensive Team selection and an All-Freshman Team member.

Quaintance was the No. 4 overall player in On3’s 2025 Transfer Portal Player Rankings, and is projected to be a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. In short, expectations are through the roof for Quaintance. Now, it’s simply a matter of the standout transfer getting back on the court.

“It’s really just trusting the trainers and coaches to get me back at 100%,” Quaintance said. “They really are invested in my future and what I can do to help here, and they don’t want to rush me to get back before I’m ready. So just trusting them all the way through.”

The trust is mutual. In May, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope raved about Jayden Quaintance.

“He’s an incredible talent,” Pope said. “We’re going to go as fast as we can with the absolute most caution that we can. And so, he’s working really hard. He’s making tremendous progress right now. Talk about a beautiful, young person, man. He’s really young, actually. When I say young person, he really young, but he’s a beautiful kid.”